"Mr Barrow?"
Thomas glanced round at the sound of his name, and tried to suppress the surprise that welled up inside him as his eyes landed on one of the (what seemed like many) hall boys. He had only arrived at Downton a couple of weeks ago, but the two men had barely exchanged a single word with one another. Thomas avoided the hall boys on principle, and he regarded the boy before him with an air of impatience and superiority.
"Can I help you?" he asked in a tone of forced civility, resisting the urge to sneer. He didn't even know this boy's name, although he vaguely recalled hearing him being addressed by Carson as 'Charlie.' He decided to refer to him as Charlie anyway, regardless if that was his name or not.
"Do you know where you get the polish for the boots?" Charlie asked, running a hand through his dark hair and smiling ruefully. "I still don't quite know where everything is."
"I-" Thomas began, but the rest of his sentence died on his throat as he caught sight of Jimmy in the distance. As had happened several times since he and Jimmy's conversation, the realisation that tonight Jimmy would finally tell him what had been bothering him came flooding back…
"Mr Barrow?" he heard Charlie ask in confusion.
Annoyed to be snapped out of his thoughts, Thomas tore his eyes away from Jimmy and, with a great effort, focused on the current conversation. "Err, in the cupboard in the servant's hall," he answered distractedly.
"Thank you," Charlie replied gratefully.
Thomas's only answer was a curt nod, before turning to continue on his way.
"Mr Barrow?" he heard Charlie ask again and he turned round once more, suppressing the urge to groan.
"I'm rather busy, Charlie," he said pointedly. Judging by the fact that the boy didn't react with confusion when he was referred to as 'Charlie,' Thomas assumed that it must be his name.
If Charlie picked up on his impatience, he didn't show it. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what cupboard you mean."
Thomas gritted his teeth. "This one!" he said, entering the servant's hall and pointing at the cupboard rather more aggressively than he had intended.
An expression of alarm flitted across Charlie's face. "Right. Sorry. Thank you, Mr Barrow."
"Has no one ever shown you where the polish is kept?" Thomas asked suddenly. "Surely you must have had to polish boots before?"
Charlie hesitated, his cheeks colouring slightly. "Well, yes, they have, but I…I keep forgetting. I have a bad memory," he added as way of explanation.
Much to his surprise, Thomas felt a small flicker of sympathy. He could remember very well what it had been like when he had first arrived at Downton, and could certainly remember the way he used to constantly forget things in those first few weeks. He had several, rather unpleasant, memories of Carson telling him off in front of the rest of the staff for trivial misdemeanours, such as ripping his jacket or losing his glove.
"You'll be fine once you get used to being here," he found himself telling Charlie, speaking rather abruptly but with a small measure of kindness in his voice. "I was always forgetting things when I first arrived here."
"Tha-" Charlie began, looking slightly overcome, but the rest of his sentence was drowned by Carson's booming voice.
"Come along Charlie, Mr Barrow; no time to stand around gossiping."
With a quick nod to Charlie, Thomas left the servant's hall and collided almost at once with a sullen looking Jimmy.
"You alright?" Thomas asked in surprise, stepping backwards to survey Jimmy properly.
"Fine," Jimmy replied coolly, avoiding Thomas's eyes.
Thomas raised his eyebrows. "You don't look it."
"I'm bloody fine!" Jimmy hissed viciously, clenching his fists and glaring at Thomas, before pushing past him into the servant's hall, rendering Thomas temporarily speechless.
"Well, I'm sorry for being concerned," he muttered to himself, feeling rather stung, however much he would have hated to admit it. Shaking his head, he made his way down the corridor, trying to push all thoughts of Jimmy out of his mind.
Xxx
"Where's Jimmy?" was the first thing Thomas asked as soon as he entered the servant's hall for dinner that evening. All the servants except for Jimmy were assembled, and every head in the room turned in his direction as he spoke, regarding him quizzically.
Carson's eyebrows shot up. "And why do you wish to know that?"
Mrs Hughes caught his eye and shook her head almost imperceptibly. "I sent Jimmy to bed," she informed Thomas gently. "He was looking rather unwell."
"Oh!" said Thomas blankly. "I see." He lowered himself into a seat, and felt a rush of relief as the rest of the servant's returned to their conversations. He could still feel O'Brien's eyes on him however, and he stared steadfastly in the opposite direction.
He remained silent for most of the meal, as his thoughts were full of Jimmy. Was he faking his illness? Thomas's heart sank as he realised that he probably was. Of course, Jimmy would be trying to get out of their meeting tonight, despite the fact that he had promised to turn up. Thomas felt his insides boil with anger, and his grip on his cutlery tightened. Was Jimmy ever going to actually stay true to his promises?
It struck him that Jimmy might genuinely be unwell, after all, he had definitely looked it earlier. Although, Thomas reminded himself, he had looked more sulky than ill.
"Thomas?" Mrs Hughes nudged his arm. "Are you alright? You've been awfully quiet through dinner."
Thomas couldn't help smiling, genuinely touched at the concern in her eyes. "I'm fine," he told her in what he hoped was a convincing tone.
She nodded slowly. "Well, if there is anything wrong, I trust you know that you can always come to me?"
Thomas's smile grew. "Thank you, Mrs Hughes. I appreciate that."
It was true that he appreciated her kindness, but it didn't stop him worrying about Jimmy.
A/N: I'm sorry this chapter wasn't very interesting! The next chapter will definitely have more of Jimmy in it. :) And I promise I included the part with Charlie for a reason!
Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed this – I always get very excited whenever I get a review :)